By: Marisol Dobbins, Student Ambassador, USA Pavilion 2012

Every day when we enter the USA Pavilion break room we are greeted with the inspiration of our peers’ photo and art wall. This wall, growing daily alongside our experiences, showcases our active involvement in the USA Pavilion, Expo, and Yeosu communities. Captured moments of smiling USA Student Ambassadors and staff helping out and being a positive part of the community remind us of the variety and magnitude of things we can accomplish even in one day.

It all started when we met Ambassador Sung Kim the first day Expo opened. It was a big moment for all of us and naturally we wanted to post a picture of it on our break room wall. Then other Student Ambassadors started putting more and more photos of their adventures. Many of the pictures include food because we all love eating Korean food and finding the best restaurants in Yeosu.

One day we realized we had some great artists in our midst. Student Ambassadors Sean Kim and Esther Weon were asked to create a mural under the budding photo collage. It took many hours of hard work, but now it shines as a representation of how we’ve interpreted our pavilion theme: diversity, wonder, and solutions.

What once was a blank, white wall has become a symbol of our time here at the 2012 Yeosu World Expo. It stands as a two dimensional capsule of the memories of the times we have shared together and that we can continue to share with others as we continue along on our international journeys.

Now a massive whale mural exists on the wall of our break room beneath our inspirational photo collage. Together Sean and Esther have brought forth the key features and themes of the Pavilion to be embodied on our break room wall. President Obama, the US flag with the names of all student ambassadors, the USA Pavilion call to action - “This is Our Ocean”, images of natural disasters and visuals of solutions for the future all gathered in one whale.